Toph's Pride
by BlackBlur87
Summary: Despite Iroh's sage advice, Toph is still reluctant to accept help from others. Will an attack from Azula be enough to make her reconsider? Will everyone find their way back? Will Sokka find some common sense? Rated T to be safe. Read and Enjoy Please.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters that appear in this story. I do own the story though; as it was inspired by a friend who I think tries to take on too much by herself.

(A/N: This is an episode I thought up that takes place after "Bitter Work" and before "The Library".)

"**Means character speech**_"_

'_**Means character thoughts**' _

**Toph's Pride**

Total silence.

The wind blows through the valley and a lone winged-lemur happily rides the thermals to a fruit bush on the side of the valley wall. He flies back up with his small bushel and sets his find in the golden-brown earth. He starts stuffing his cheeks as quickly as he can as dust clouds blow past being carried on a gentle breeze. The sound of ground shifting, followed by shouting causes the mammal to look up from his meal. A small shadow encircles him, growing larger with each passing second, and the lemur looks up in time to a rather large rock about to crush him and his food. He hurriedly gathers his food and stuffs his mouth before narrowly escaping being crushed.

"Oops! Sorry Momo!" Aang called out.

"You've gotten better with the pushing, but you've still got to work on your aim Twinkletoes!" shouted Toph.

"Aw, c'mon Toph. It wasn't that bad of a shot." reasoned Katara from her standing position by the steep cliff.

"Yeah." agreed Sokka "I'm actually not afraid for my life anymore." he replied from his seat on the rock next to a sunbathing Appa.

Toph stomped her foot on the ground causing a small pillar to rise behind her and catch Sokka on the chin, effectively knocking him off the rock he was sitting on.

"You were saying meathead?" she challenged without bothering to turn around; not that she needed to. She couldn't see what happened, but the vibrations from Sokka hitting the ground told her all that she needed to know.

"That was under-handed!" Sokka accused as he picked himself off the ground, rubbing his jaw. Toph turned around and smiled.

"Actually, it was more under-chinned. Be happy that I have such great aim meathead. I could have aimed somewhere a lot more sensitive." Toph reminded him. Sokka's jaw dropped as he put his hands in front of said sensitive area between the legs.

"You know Toph, as interesting as it is to the know that my brother is aware of at least one of his weaknesses, and that it can be used to shut him up, don't you think you were a little harsh?"

Toph rolled her sightless eyes. "Wow! Katara thinks I'm being a brute. What a surprise!" Toph replied, voice oozing with sarcasm. "Why do you always have to baby people? They'll never get any stronger if you coddle them, Sugar Queen!"

"Well they'll never get any stronger if you destroy their confidence either you… you... dingbat!" Katara lamely retorted.

A large vein emerged on Toph's forehead, as small rocks rose into the air surrounding her. "What did you call me?" she demanded.

"You heard me. Dingbat." She repeated with more confidence.

Katara had just enough time to get out that last syllable before a rock flew past her head. Katara looked behind her and saw the rock go over the edge of the cliff, taking a long fall before she lost sight of it in the thicket of trees. "Was that a warning shot?" she asked smugly before turning back around to stare at the boulder that Toph had suspended in the air.

"No, this is!" Toph shouted as she hurled the boulder in Katara's direction. Katara forced the water out of her waterskin and bended it into a whip that lashed out and cut the boulder in half.

"That was hardly worth the effort I'm sure." mocked Katara, hands on her hips, as the boulder halves landed on either side of her. Toph gritted her teeth and stomped her foot into the ground making a trail of stalagmites erupt in Katara's direction, but she nimbly dodged and destroyed what she could not. Unfortunately, this led her straight into Toph's trap. Katara gasped as two large boulders, three times as big as the first one, closed in on her from in front and behind.

'_Too big to evade. And I don't think I can destroy both at the same time. I'm trapped._' Katara thought desperately as she closed her eyes and waited to be crushed, or for Toph to call off the attack. It could probably go either way.

_Crash! Schink! _

Katara opened her eyes to the sounds of the boulders being destroyed and expected to see Toph crossing her arms with a smug look on her face. What she saw was… well, Toph crossing her arms with a smug look on her face. What she hadn't expected, was to see Aang in front of her with his arms outspread, obviously having been the one to destroy the boulder in front. What was even more surprising for Katara was seeing two boulder halves slide past her and that Sokka had both his boomerang and machete in hand, which he had used to split the boulder with a double slash.

"Aang? Sokka? Did you just… did you two…"

"Gee, it looks like my **harsh** attitude hasn't destroyed their confidence, only the obstacles in their path. Maybe if you weren't so **soft**, you could have gotten out of that yourself." Toph taunted. "Nice job guys. You've really come a long way."

Aang and Sokka's glares didn't phase Toph and probably wouldn't have even if she could see them, but their anger seemed to be causing enough vibrations for her earthbending to detect because she stopped smiling.

"What?" she asked plainly.

"That wasn't funny Toph!" Aang declared.

"It's okay Aang. I was as much at fault as she was." Katara reminded him as she extended her hand. "I'm sorry Toph. Truce?"

Seeing that Toph wasn't going to initiate the handshake on her own, Katara took a step forward intending to put this all behind them but was interrupted when Aang put the end of his staff in front of her.

"Tell me, Toph. If Sokka and I hadn't made it there in time, what would you have done?" Aang inquired

'_What is Aang trying to say? Does he think Toph would have followed through with that attack?_' Katara thought worriedly.

Toph turned around and put her arms behind her head. "Does it really matter what I would have done since you two made it in time?"

Sokka took a step forward. "Are you saying that you wouldn't have stopped your attack?"

"It was a good lesson for all of you. The Fire Nation is ruthless, as I'm sure you've all seen. If the sugar queen can't take care of herself, then that means someone else has to cover for her. I doubt that the Fire Nation would sit and wait for you guys to be ready to defend each other." Toph pointed out.

"I'll vouch for that!" A voice called out from the bluffs. The gang looked up at the mountainside to see none other than Azula staring back at them.

"Greaaaat. Another girl whose hobbies include totaling city blocks and destroying anything that she thinks will make a nice boom. This is just what we need." Sokka whined.

'_When this is over, I'll remember to carry out that earlier threat Sokka._' Toph thought as she braced for Azula's attack.

Azula jumped from her perch and swung her left arm out to project a vicious fire attack in Toph's direction, but she stomped her foot on the ground and raised her arms to bring up an earthen wall for protection. Sokka let fly his boomerang while Katara bended the water out of her waterskin before firing ice spikes in Azula's direction, only to watch her knock Sokka's boomerang off course with a fireball and jump over Katara's attack. Azula jumped back just as Aang dropped down from above and slammed his staff down, but was caught off-guard when Aang swung his staff at her and a strong gust of wind knocked her towards the rock wall.

'_Just a little closer flame-brain, and I'll totally rock your world._' Toph thought silently as she prepared to strike. Azula recovered her balance just as Momo flew in front of her face, which distracted her long enough for Appa to swing his tail and knock her into the wall. Toph immediately slapped both of her hands on the ground causing a tremor large enough to loosen the rocks above Azula's head, threateninig to come crashing down on top of her. Azula looked up at the approaching hazard and looked back at Toph with a sneer. She sent out two lightning strikes before she surrounded herself with a fire barrier to protect herself from the miniature avalanche. Her first shot went wide and missed hitting Katara and Aang, but Sokka and Toph weren't so lucky as it seemed to be aiming true to its intended targets. Toph knocked Sokka out of the way and put up another earthen wall, but the electric bolt proved to be too powerful as it drilled into the barrier. The wall blew outward with a loud bang, knocking Toph off the cliff and towards the forest valley below.

"Toph!" Sokka yelled as he got up and ran to the cliff's edge, but he wasn't expecting the tremor to have caused the ground beneath his feet to become unstable, giving him the freedom of flying without the going up part.

"Sokka!" Katara cried out. "Aang! Get Appa!"

Aang nodded. "Appa! Yip y—" Aang was cut off by the explosive return of Azula.

"Well, well, well. It looks like it's the Avatar and just some nobody left." Azula remarked as she laughed at her own joke.

"Don't worry, I'm sure **somebody** must think you're worth **something**, even if it's not much." Katara retorted without a second's hesitation as she got into a fighting stance.

Azula gritted her teeth as she looked at Katara. She charged forward and began a relentless attack against Katara who could only defend until Azula left an opening. Aang rushed in to assist her, but Katara motioned him away.

"No, Aang!" Katara shouted, "You have to go after Sokka! And Toph" she added after some consideration.

"As if I'll let either of you go." Azula pointed out as she caught Katara off-guard. Azula viciously knocked Katara aside with a blast of fire which would have scalded her badly had she not managed to block the heat with her waterbending. Azula lunged at Aang and continued her ferocious assault not even giving him the leisure time to order Appa after their fallen comrades…

* * *

A/N: Ooohhhh. Cliffhanger. Literally. 


	2. Inexpensive Plummet

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters.**

**A/N: **_"_**means character speech**_"_

_'**means character thoughts**'_

**_----- means POV Change_**

**Toph's Pride Ch. 1 Inexpensive Plummet**

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Sokka screamed as the ground's details became more defined with each passing second. '_How can she be so calm_?' thought Sokka, as he watched Toph's silent form.

"Toph!" he called out, but received no response.

'_What the—?_' thought Sokka.

"Are you kidding me? How can you sleep through this?" he yelled at her, but that didn't cause a reaction either. Sokka sighed. '_How am I supposed to get us out of this?_' he thought '_If I had something to dig into the cliff wall with, I could grab Toph and slow our fall._' He fingered the club that was still strapped to his side. "But no, Sokka. You had to drop your machete when you fell and your boomerang flew off to who knows where!" He yelled.

WOOSHWOOSHWOOSHWOOSHWOOSH.

Sokka paused his bitter one-sided conversation in time to catch his formally AWOL boomerang.

"Boomerang! You really **do** always come back." Sokka exclaimed with a broad smile. He quickly grabbed hold of Toph's unconscious body with his left arm, flipping her over before holding her close as he proceeded to dig his boomerang into the valley wall. It slowed their descent by a small margin while it made a really annoying screeching sound. The noise proved to be more beneficial because the irritating sound of metal scraping against rock was enough to rouse Toph from her inconvenient slumber.

"Based on the wind ruffling my hair and the sensation of weightlessness I'm feeling, I think it's safe to assume that we're falling right?"

"Only for about 5 more minutes though. After that, I'm sure we'll make lovely impressions when we hit the ground. On the plus side, we won't have to clean up after ourselves." Sokka explained nonchalantly. Toph shrugged.

"Wow. I guess we're screwed aren't we. Unless you see Appa anywhere."

"Don't you have **any** earthbending techniques to get out of this soon-to-be-literal mess?"

Toph shook her head. "Typical earthbending requires solid ground beneath my feet to be effective."

"Can't you just kick the wall and make a plateau or something appear beneath us or something?"

"Gee, great idea!" Toph exclaimed, pointing her finger in the air. "That way, we won't have to wait the whole four minutes; we can go splat instantly. We're going way too fast for me to safely put a floor beneath us."

Sokka went silent as the prospect of inevitable doom sunk in.

"Although…" Toph began.

"What?" Sokka asked, hope returning.

"Well, there is the chance that if I put a large enough boulder beneath us and smash it, the force of the rock exploding might be big enough to cancel out the force of the fall. The only problem is, that if my timing is off…" she trailed off.

"We'll be dead anyway so just try it!" Sokka yelled.

Toph nodded before kicking the wall with her right foot, wincing as a fairly large boulder appear beneath their feet.

"Um…wouldn't a flat boulder be more stable?"

Toph nodded. "A flat boulder would be **too** stable. If I had tried this with a flat boulder, I probably wouldn't be able to make a big enough repulsion force. We'd be lucky to survive let alone walk away intact. At least with a round surface there's a chance that I'll be able to pull this off."

"Just a chance! That's your best estimate?" Sokka asked, clearly annoyed.

"You're welcome to abandon boulder and take your chances with your boomerang, that's giving me a headache by the way, SO WILL YOU PULL IT OUT OF THE WALL ALREADY!?!" Toph screamed causing Sokka to hurriedly do as she requested.

Toph took a deep breath to calm down. "So, how much time do we have left? I need at least a twenty seconds notice."

Sokka hesitantly looked down and saw the ground's details way too clearly for comfort. The trees, bushes and increasingly pointy looking rocks resting on top of the hill beneath them were practically setting a place that would ensure that Sokka and Toph would both have a very painful landing; assuming they lived to feel pain. "Ten seconds!" he announced grimly.

'_Crud. There's not enough time for that now. We'll be lucky if we both survive, but this is the last thing that might work._' Toph thought morbidly as she rotated the rock backwards. "Hang on tight meathead!" she instructed as she raised her right foot and brought it down with enough force to destroy the rock, just as it came into contact with the ground. A loud, sickening crack sounded and Toph cried out in pain before the angle of the rock and the force of the rock's destruction sent them both flying backwards until they hit the ground and started rolling down the hill.

'_If I survive this, I'll be more appreciative of Toph. Maybe._' Sokka thought before he blacked out…

* * *

"Haaaaaaa!" Azula yelled as she fired another lightning blast at Aang, who nimbly dodged and sent an air strike back at her with his staff. Azula dodged left and quickly used her fire to melt the ice spikes Katara had aimed at her. 

"Aang! We have to finish this fast so we can get to Sokka and Toph!" Katara yelled.

"You try telling her that we're in a hurry!" Aang yelled back as he dodged another lightning attack.

"Fine!" Katara yelled as she rushed Azula.

"You're joking right? What can you possibly hope to accomplish by rushing to your doom?" Azula scoffed.

Katara ignored her and pressed on with her attack. She gathered all of the water that she had left and formed a giant ice spike, hurling it at Azula. Azula let out a snort and jumped back a ways into a small pond as her fire melted the ice instantly, splashing it at her feet. Before she could attack however, Katara finished her attack by freezing the water at Azula's feet, sub-zero water rising until it effectively froze her in a solid block of ice. Katara fell to her hands and knees as she struggled to catch her breath.

'_That won't hold her for long, but it should buy Aang enough time._' Katara thought as she looked at the young airbender who was running around in circles with his staff resting on his shoulders.

Not another minute passed before Azula erupted out of her frozen prison with a furious rage. To her dismay, her plans of revenge had to be put on hold once Aang let loose a massive tornado and promptly sent it in her direction once Katara was clear. Azula stood there speechless as the tornado engulfed her, dirt and weeds obstructing her vision spinning her around until it flung her about fifty yards back up the mountain with a none to pleasant landing.

"Nice job Katara." Aang credited as he picked up Sokka's fallen machete.

"You too Aang." Katara returned with a smile as she refilled her waterskin. "Now let's go rescue Sokka and Toph."

Aang nodded as they both climbed on top of Appa. "Yip Yip!" Aang shouted as Appa descended into the valley…

* * *

An endless void of darkness is all that Sokka could see. '_Is it nighttime already? Wait a second, where are the stars and the moon?_' Sokka opened his eyes and discovered that the sun was still high in the sky, but the canopy of trees gave the impression that it was much later than it actually was. 

"So, you finally decided to wake up, eh snoozles?" a voice called out.

Sokka turned his head in the direction that the voice had come, blinking a few times as he looked at the contrasting bright light shining through a gap in the trees. His eyes soon adjusted and he was able to confirm that it had been indeed Toph who called him. Sokka slowly got up, his slightly battered body reminding him of the fall he took; though a few bruises were worth the joyous fact that he was alive. He walked over to the lake's edge where a battered-looking Toph was dangling her feet in the water.

'_Geez, she looks worse than I do, and she should be used to hitting the ground since she literally dives into it everyday._' Sokka observed. Without her headband, Toph's hair was no longer held up in its usual bun; instead, gracefully falling to reach just beneath her shoulders. He knelt down beside her and put a hand upon her shoulder.

"Thanks for saving my life, Toph." Sokka sincerely spoke. He didn't notice her cheeks tingeing a light pink.

"I was saving my own butt and you just happened to survive in the process." Toph coldly responded in an effort to regain her nonchalant composure.

'_Forget any thoughts about being grateful to her Sokka. Never again will you grace her with your gratitude._' Sokka thought bitterly as he stood up.

"Forgive me for being grateful anyway." Sokka spat out, looking to the side to prevent her from seeing the pained look on his face. Although she couldn't see it anyway, Toph could still detect that the young warrior's feelings had been sincerely hurt.

'_Wow, I didn't think that he'd take me seriously, but if I apologize now, it'll seem really strange._' Toph thought sadly. "Aw, are you mad at me? If anything, the denizens of this forest should be angry with me for letting such a dangerous carnivore live. You're probably not considered the guest of honor around here, meathead." '_I probably just made things worse though._'

Sokka gritted his teeth in anger. "Not that you could see anything; let alone how others feel." He replied coldly. "Isn't that right…**dingbat**?"

Toph swiftly turned around to face him and was about to get up and bludgeon him, but thought about the current situation and went back to facing the water. Satisfied with her reaction and her decision to back down, Sokka relaxed a bit.

"C'mon, Toph. Aang and Katara are probably looking for us overhead and might already be across the valley waiting for us. We shouldn't make them worry anymore than they already have."

Toph didn't budge. "Number one: you don't tell me what do. You got that? And number two: worrying about others, and depending on others makes you weak. I suggest you get out of that habit." Toph stated.

Toph could almost hear the patience leaving Sokka's body as it was replaced by anger. '_Uh-oh_' thought Toph worriedly, but she remained still.

"What is it with you?" Sokka yelled exasperatedly. "You think that caring about what happens to other people and asking for help makes you weak?" Toph didn't respond.

"Fine, then call me a weakling for caring about what could happen to you if I left you here by yourself."

"I told you not to tell me what to do." Toph replied without turning around.

"I'm not telling you, I'm making you!" he shouted as hauled her up and pushed her forward. She took one step forward and fell to the ground clutching her right leg to her chest.

"Owwwwww…." Toph moaned through clenched teeth.

Sokka just stared at the spectacle and rolled his eyes. "Nice try Toph, but I'm not falling for it." Sokka turned and started walking past her until he stopped a short distance from her. He waited until it became obvious that she was not going to follow. Sokka sighed as he turned around, expecting to see her back by the lake, but he was surprised to see her in the same fetal position. Even more shocking was the realization that she was quietly sobbing.

'_Okay, I'll bite._' Sokka walked over to Toph and knelt down beside her. "Let me see Toph." he instructed, but she shook her head. "Toph!" he yelled causing her to flinch. She reluctantly removed her hands to allow Sokka to get a closer look.

"Oh man." Sokka gasped after a closer inspection. Toph's swollen ankle was visible through the baggy cuffs she wore on her legs. "Did I do that?" Sokka asked, his voice revealing that the guilt and concern had completely erased his anger. Toph shook her head.

"No, this was from earlier." she replied.

'_It must have been when she used that boulder to save our lives. That and the strike to the wall to form the boulder in the first place must have been too much stress for her leg to handle in such a short period of time._' Sokka realized with a shudder, now realizing what the cracking sound he heard was.

"Why didn't you just switch legs or something?" he asked

Toph winced as she slowly turned herself onto her back and used her arms to prop herself up. "I couldn't." she said plainly, wiping away the last traces of her tears.

"But why not?" Sokka asked, generally confused.

"You were holding me on your left side remember? If I had used my other leg at either time, we would have been off balance and we both would have probably died." she explained.

"But you never had a problem with forming a rock wherever you wanted before. It shouldn't have mattered which leg you used." Sokka pointed out, hoping to find some answer to alleviate his feelings of uneasiness; after all, she had injured herself saving his life as well.

"I've only had practice at that when both of my feet are on solid ground. I've never been flying or falling through the air without Appa there, so I'm not used to there not being earth beneath my feet. No solid ground beneath my feet, means no stability." Toph finished explaining, leaving Sokka speechless. A few moments passed before Sokka could find anything to say in response.

"Thank you Toph." he said quietly.

"You're welcome." Toph responded with a sincere smile on her face.

"We'd better have a look at that leg." Sokka resolved as he looked around. "There." He said as he pointed to a fallen log. Sokka carefully put an arm beneath her knees and behind her back and slowly lifted her off the ground, causing her to wince in pain.

"Sorry." he apologized, but she shook her head.

"S'okay."

He gently set her down on the log as he crouched down and removed the material from her leg to get a better look at her ankle. '_I'm no doctor, but swelling and discoloring can't be a good sign_' he thought grimly. "How well can you move it?" He asked as he carefully held onto her foot.

"Not very well." Toph admitted, wincing as she demonstrated her ankle's restricted movement.

Sokka sighed as he gently lowered her foot to the ground. "I can't be sure Toph, but I think that your ankle might be broken. Now that raises the question of how we're going to move you without hurting you worse. We could really use Katara's healing touch right about now."

Toph smirked. "A broken ankle's not going to stop me. I can handle the pain, so let's just walk out of here." she declared as she started getting up, only to be pushed back down by Sokka.

"I don't think that's the wisest choice. I'll have to carry you, but first I'm going to go find some small branches so that I can make a splint." Sokka informed her as he got up.

"I refuse to be carried around like a helpless child!" Toph yelled.

"Whatever we decide to do doesn't matter now. Right now we've got immobilize your ankle, so I'm going to go look for some materials. I won't be gone long." Sokka told her before walking off, leaving Toph speechless.

"Thank you, Sokka" she said, so quietly that she thought he couldn't hear her.

Sokka stopped walking, turned around and smiled. "You're welcome Toph. And I won't be going far so call if there's trouble."

Toph nodded and smiled as Sokka turned around and disappeared into the thicket of trees and shrubs.

'_Wow._' she thought, '_I never thought Sokka being nice to me and me being nice to him would feel this…good._' Toph snickered to herself. '_Not as fun as teasing him, but I have to admit that it's not so bad._'

True to his word, Sokka returned a few minutes later with a sturdy tree branch and some smaller branches for her splint.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Toph" Sokka warned, "I have almost no clue as to what I'm doing." Sokka had already put the twigs in position and loosely tied them together using some of the rope he had scored from Zuko back in the North Pole. Now all that was left was to figure out how to set her leg without doing further damage.

"I wasn't exactly sure about what I was doing before." Toph reminded him "And if you could trust me then, I can trust you now."

Sokka nodded. "You'd better brace yourself Toph, cause this is probably going to hurt. A lot." He warned as he grabbed hold of her foot.

"How bad could it possibly—" Toph's question was cut short as she screamed in pain once Sokka started repositioning her ankle. Her brow furrowed and she clamped her hand over her mouth to keep quiet, her other hand tightly grasping a protruding branch on the log before a resounding pop signaled that the procedure was a success. Sokka quickly tightened the rope around the splint and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Toph? Are you okay?" Sokka asked, concerned about her silence.

"J-Ju-Just fine. Th-Th-Thanks Sokka." She managed to reply with a weak smile.

"Glad I could help." Sokka said as he smiled back. He reached for the sturdy branch with one hand and offered his other hand to Toph, who gratefully accepted while being careful not to put any weight on her injured ankle as she stood on her good leg.

"Which arm am I supposed to put the branch under?" Toph asked as she reached out for the branch.

"What are you talking about? I was going to tie the branch to myself so that my arms would be free when I carried you." Sokka explained.

"I already told you that I wouldn't be carried around like some newborn." Toph declared.

"What's the big deal? If you're worried about someone seeing you, there's nobody out here." Sokka pointed out, arms spread wide to emphasize the vastness of their surroundings.

"Look Sokka, I appreciate your offer and I thanked you for helping me, but there is no way I'm depending on you or anybody else when I can move on my own." Toph stated.

Sokka sighed. "Fine Toph, have it your way. But if you can't keep up, I'm carrying you."

"I'm no deadweight." Toph shot back. She placed the makeshift crutch underneath her right shoulder and took a few careful steps before limping away.

"What is your problem?" Sokka wondered out loud as he followed after her…

* * *

A/N: Chapter one is officially done. Sorry for any OOC moments. The other chapters won't be far behind. 


	3. Breaking through the Barrier

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The last Airbender or any of its characters**

**A/N: **_"_**means character speech**_"_

_'**means character thoughts**_'

---- **Means POV change**

**Toph's Pride Ch. 2 Breaking through the Barrier**

"They're not here." observed Katara sadly, holding Toph's trademark headband in her hands.

"If this is where they were supposed to land, then that just means that they must have survived." Aang pointed out. "As long as they're alive, we'll find them." Katara nodded as they both climbed on Appa and took off.

"How are we supposed to find them Aang?"

"If they're headed across the valley, then we should spot them if we keep flying in this direction."

"I sure hope so. I have to apologize to Toph."

"Why should you have to apologize? She's the one who started it." Aang reminded.

"I know, it's just…I don't know, I just saw the way she looked at me. She actually looked hurt when I called her a dingbat. Maybe I'm just imagining things."

"Now that you mention it, she did seem a little angrier than usual. I guess we'll just have to ask her when we meet up with them."

"Do you think she'd really tell us? Sharing her feelings isn't exactly something she makes a habit of doing."

"What are you talking about? She's always telling us what she's feeling."

"No, she's always telling us what's on her mind. She never tells us when something is bothering her."

"She'll open up eventually. It's just going to take some time."

"I hope you're right Aang."

"It's inevitable." Katara looked up in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"As long as Sokka's around, she'll have to open up to shut him up." Aang explained.

"That's true." Katara agreed and giggled at the thought. Aang, Appa and Momo soon joined in the laughter and the four friends filled the sky with laughter, squeaks and bellows as they set off to find their missing companions…

* * *

"ACHOO!!!!" sneezed both Sokka and Toph. 

"Bless you. Thank you." They said in unison.

"Someone must be talking about us." Sokka deduced.

"Naaaah, it's probably because I kept my feet in the water too long."

Sokka stopped walking, causing Toph to bump into him and almost lose her balance.

"That reminds me, how did you manage to get all the way to the lake? You'd think that because I was bigger, that I'd go further than you. Unless blowing up the rock was what sent you further."

"Actually I stopped a few feet short of the spot where you landed and woke up. I just crawled on my hands and knees to get to the lake."

"Oh, so blowing up the rock didn't affect the distance you flew." Sokka nodded with full faith restored in physics.

"It might have if I hadn't put most of my focus into blowing up your side." Toph corrected as she made her way around Sokka.

"What, do you have a death wish? One mistake and you could have been hurt."

"I did get hurt." Toph called back.

"I meant that you could have been hurt worse." Sokka clarified. "Why'd you take the risk?" Toph stopped and looked back.

"It wasn't much of a risk. I was close enough to earth to use my bending if I needed to. You didn't have that option." Toph pointed out. "I wish you guys would make up your mind. First, you complain that I'm not being a team player; now, you're complaining about me making sure that you survived that fall in one piece." She scoffed as she continued forward. Sokka walked ahead of her and stopped.

"News flash, Toph! You're the one who was talking about how worrying about others makes a person weak." He reminded.

"With my feet off the ground, I am weak." She declared with a solemn look on her face before she pushing past him, leaving Sokka to stare after her.

'_What did she mean by that?_' he wondered as he followed…

* * *

"I can't see any sign of them." Katara said disappointedly. 

"Me neither. The trees are too thick." Aang reported.

"Do you think they made it to the other side?" Katara asked hopefully.

"It's possible I guess. We were fighting Azula for a while."

"I'm worried about Sokka though. I hope he's okay."

"What about Toph? You said you weren't mad at her anymore." Aang reminded.

"Of course I hope that Toph is okay. She's our friend, and I don't want anything to happen to her, but at least she's an earthbender. Sokka doesn't have any bending abilities." Katara pointed out.

"That's true, but Sokka has survived this long on his skills, luck, and that enchanted boomerang of his that comes back no matter what. As the Avatar, I'm the master of all the elements and the bridge between this world and the spirit world, but that thing still has me beat in the supernatural department. Sokka will be fine as long as he and Toph stick together and refrain from killing each other." Aang looked at the darkening sky before them.

"It's getting late Katara. We'll fly to the other end of the valley to check for them. If they're not there, we can set up camp tonight and retrace our steps on foot in the morning."

"Okay." Katara agreed as they flew on…

* * *

"Ooooof." 

"You okay klutz?" Toph asked.

"I am not a klutz. It's just so dark that I can't see where I'm going." Sokka defended.

"Dang. That must be so inconvenient." Toph said dryly.

"Sorry." Sokka apologized sheepishly. "Still, we should probably call it a night and set up camp."

"Whatever." Toph replied as she made her way over to a log and sat down. '_I needed a rest anyway._' A sharp pain in her ankle interrupted her thoughts as she realized that Sokka was raising her foot off the ground.

"Ow! What are you doing meathead?" She demanded.

"You need to keep your leg elevated." Sokka explained as he gently lowered her foot atop a nearby stump before he stood up and started walking away.

"I don't need you to take care of me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Sokka stopped and turned around.

"Toph," he said "I really don't know what it is you're thinking of in that rock filled head of yours, aside from new ways to make fun of me, but I'm not trying to act like you're helpless. I don't pity you or anything like that. It's the simple fact that **you're** hurt and **I'm** trying to be your friend, but you're being so **stubborn**, you can't accept any kindness from others. Maybe you have a reason to be stuck up, and it's something Aang, Katara and I just don't understand, but that's only because you never give us a chance to. You always hide whatever you're feeling like you're making one of your earth barriers." And with that, Sokka turned back around and increased the distance between them.

"I'm going to go look for firewood. Call if a wild animal attacks." He called back before stopping. "Not that I think you need help or anything like that. I just want to be called back if potential dinner shows up." He continued walking away until she could no longer hear him…

* * *

Aang and Katara sat nestled in Appa's fur in front of the blazing fire they had set up in front of them. 

"It's dark already and we still haven't found them." Katara frowned as she looked at the flames dancing in front of her. Aang took his eyes off the stars and looked in Katara's direction.

"They've probably already camped out for the night and plan to continue in the morning. We're bound to run into them sooner or later." Aang reassured.

"Maybe we should still be looking for them though."

"It won't do them any good if we get lost out there. We should rest now and head out in the morning."

"You're right Aang." Katara agreed before putting the fire out. "Goodnight."

"Night Katara." Aang returned as she yawned and fell asleep. Aang turned over to face the other way as he looked out into the woods.

'_Sokka and Toph had better be okay. I don't know what Katara would do if something happened to them._' He thought before sleep took over…

* * *

'_At_ _least it's a warm night._' Thought Toph silently as she turned her head in the direction that Sokka was sitting and doing his best to ignore her. 

'_Not that I can blame him. I have been a total jerk to him, and he's only been trying to help me. Should I just keep this up until we find the others, or should I try to explain myself? I don't know what to do anymore._' She thought sadly as she lowered her head.

"Toph?" She immediately raised her head at the sound of his voice.

"What is it?" She asked with far less edge in her voice than normal.

"I was just wondering…" he trailed off as he put his hand behind his head while thinking of the best way to ask his question.

"What is it?" she asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Promise that you won't get angry and use your earthbending to open up a chasm to the center of the earth beneath my feet first."

Toph 'glanced' at her throbbing ankle. '_Not really sure if I could manage that with this leg; not that he needs to know that._' Toph thought to herself.

"Fine." She promised out loud.

"Okay, then. I was just wondering why you got so mad when my sister…called you a dingbat."

"Oh. That." Toph sighed and lowered her head again.

"Well, yeah. I mean, you didn't attack me when I called you a dingbat, so I was wondering if it was the word or who said it that got you so mad." Sokka finished.

"Believe me, I wanted to carry out my earlier threat."

"Then why didn't you?"

"I wasn't exactly in any condition to." Toph reminded.

"Oh, right." The gentle calls of crickets chirping and owls hooting were the only sounds keeping the forest from succumbing to complete silence before Sokka spoke up.

"So?"

"What?"

"You never answered my question." Sokka pointed out.

"Why does it matter anyway?"

"Hey, no fair. I asked you first."

Toph sighed. "You're not going to let up are you?"

"Tell you what. If you answer my question, I promise not to bug you at least until we meet up with Aang and Katara."

'_That's probably the best I'll ever get from him._' Thought Toph with a small laugh.

"Fine, meathead. I'll talk." Toph agreed before beginning her explanation.

"Back home, my parents hid my existence from the entire village."

"I know. You told us that already." Sokka reminded.

"Yeah, but I never told you that it didn't start out that way. Before I started taking private lessons with -cough- 'Master' Yu six years ago, my parents had me enrolled into a private school. I always needed a bodyguard or two when I left the house, but it was the closest thing I had to freedom. All of that changed on that one day, when my escort was talking to the teacher about my schedules interfering with my schoolwork.

I wandered over to the play area and tried to use the opportunity to make some friends that weren't the children of my father's aristocrat friends. I came across some kids that were jumping in a familiar pattern that I recognized as hopscotch and asked if I could play with them. Now that I know the situation a bit better, I'm not all that surprised that they said 'no', but at the time I didn't know why because I could use my earthbending to detect their jumping pattern, and I'd heard some of the game rules before. I didn't think my blindness had anything to do with it because I thought that all blind people could 'see' the way that I could; which is why I had no idea what they meant when they called me a dingbat. I asked them what it meant, and they told me that it meant because I was blind as a wolf-bat, I couldn't possibly play because I would mess up the game since I couldn't see where I was going. They even went as far as to tell me that I wouldn't ever be able to do anything for myself because I was different, and that meant I wasn't worth as much as a normal person." At this point in the explanation, tears rolled down Toph's cheeks as her memories of that day flooded back.

"Wow, Toph. If Katara and I had known, we never would have called you something that hurt you like that. You know we don't think that about you." Sokka assured and Toph nodded to show that she acknowledged his words before continuing her tale.

"I tried telling them that I was worth just as much as they were, but every time I tried opening my mouth to defend myself, they kept chanting 'dingbat' over and over again until I finally couldn't take anymore. I covered my ears and ran back to where my escort should have been, but they followed after me."

"Why didn't you just send them flying or bury them?" Sokka asked.

"I didn't know that I was an earthbender at the time; not until I became so upset that I locked myself inside of a stone barrier. I kept pleading for someone to let me out, but the only responses I got were dingbat and the sounds of laughter until my escort finally found me. I was lucky that he had been a student of Master Yu; Otherwise I would have been stuck between, well a rock and a hard place. After that little stunt my parents decided that it was no longer safe for me to go out in public."

"But if you were such a capable earthbender, why'd you're parents hide you away? I'm not saying they should have trained you for fighting, even though you won the championship for 4 years, but I would think that they'd have figured that you could protect yourself."

"They didn't know that I was an earthbender at the time either at first, so they thought it had been a practical joke from one of the other kids; or worse, that it had been an attack from someone after my family's money. Until I could prove that it had been me, because I was an earthbender, they took matters into their own hands and put me under house arrest where no one could do that to me again. Kind of ironic how they tried to keep me away from the person who was responsible for trapping me, only to trap me with the culprit.

A few months later after constant begging and pleading, my parents finally hired Master Yu to verify that I was, big surprise, an earthbender. They paid for my lessons so that I could start controlling my powers at will. I thought that they were finally viewing me as something other than a blind, fragile, little girl. It wasn't long before I found out that my parents had instructed Master Yu to keep me at a beginners level, effectively taking away my last chance at freedom, or so I thought. One day I overheard Master Yu telling my parents that he had to cancel my lesson for the day. When my parents demanded that he explain himself, he informed them that he wanted to boost the ratings of his school by entering something new called the Earth Rumble tournament. My parents were furious with him. They threatened to run him out of business all together, until he told them that he sincerely thought that he had been pushing me a little to fast and wanted to slow things down so I wouldn't get hurt. My parents instantly agreed to this after hearing his 'concerns' and decided to put more restrictions on me to ensure that I got 'proper rest'. I guess that I really should be thanking Master Yu though."

"What? But he held you back and got your parents to limit you even more than before, just so he could boost his ratings." Sokka pointed out.

"And it's because he kept me at the basics that I'm as good as I am." Toph stated.

"Okay you totally lost me now." Sokka stated as he scratched his head in confusion. "How does getting stuck at the bottom raise you to champion status?"

Toph smirked. "Because I'd practiced the basics for so long, I had better control when I perfected my own style of fighting. And once I felt I was good enough, I entered Earth Rumble II and won every match I had until Twinkle-toes came and beat me. You know the rest from there." Toph finished.

Nothing was said between them while their campfire illuminated their faces, when Sokka abruptly got up and sat next to Toph.

"Wow, Toph. I had no idea." He consoled as he put a hand upon her shoulder.

"Well, now you know." She said simply. '_And soon they all will _' she thought as she looked away.

"No, I mean I have no idea how your parents couldn't see what an amazing daughter they have. You might not be able to see the smile on my face Toph, but your parents are the ones who are truly blind."

Toph turned to face him, and even though it was true that she couldn't see the smile on his face, she could feel the sincerity in his words.

"Do you really mean that?" Toph asked shyly, as the very idea seemed ridiculous to her. After all, she had given him plenty of reasons to think otherwise.

"Of course I mean it. You can't be anything less than amazing to pass the extremely difficult selection tests needed to become one of my friends." Sokka stated.

"Huh?" Toph asked confusedly.

"What do you mean, 'huh?'. Aang is the embodiment of thousands of past lives that were also known as the Avatar. Plus he's the last known airbender in existence. Appa and Momo are the last known living flying animals that inhabited the Air temples nearly a century ago. And my sister Katara, will never know I said this about her, but she impressively mastered waterbending in less than a month."

"But where does that leave me?" Toph interrupted.

"Simple. You're a champion earthbender that never lets anything stop you from achieving your goals." Sokka answered, leaving Toph speechless, until she couldn't hold back the tears threatening to form any longer and started crying.

'_Oh great_' thought Sokka, '_We're finally getting along and then I have to go and make her cry._' Sokka mentally slapped himself, but was thoroughly surprised when Toph leaned forward and buried her face into his chest.

"Thank you Sokka! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" her muffled voice repeated over and over. Sokka hesitated before he put his arms around her and smiled.

"You're welcome Toph." He whispered in her ear as her sobs echoed through the night…

* * *

A/N: Chapter two is through. This is just my take on Toph's past. I hope I kept the year leaps accurate. As usual, sorry for any OOC. 


	4. Anticlimatic Attack

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters.**

**A/N: "means character speech**_"_

_'**means character thoughts**'_

_----** means POV change**_

**Toph's Pride Ch 3: Anti-climatic Attack**

The rising sun found its way to Aang's eyes as he slowly opened them. He yawned and looked over to where Katara had been sleeping, finding only a vacant spot. Fearing that she had gone off in the middle of the night, Aang jumped to his feet and prepared to race after her.

"Morning, Aang. Did you sleep well?" A voice questioned from above.

Aang looked up and saw that Katara was atop Appa, going through her things.

"Yup, and I had the greatest dream." He replied. '_You were in it and we were both back at the beach on Kiyoshi Island._' Aang thought with a serene smile on his face.

"Oh, really? What was it about?" Katara asked as she climbed down.

"Um, well, I don't really remember all the details." Aang nervously replied, causing Katara to stare at him with a quizzical expression.

"We'd better get a move on if we're going to find them." Aang pointed out in an attempt to change the subject. Katara nodded in agreement as they both started walking underneath the canopy of trees.

"Appa, you and Momo stay here. I don't think you can fit underneath all of these trees, so I'll whistle when we find them." Aang called back.

Appa bellowed, which could only be determined as a yes based on his return to slumber. Aang turned back around and ran to catch up with Katara, but crashed into her when she abruptly stopped in front of him.

"Why'd you stop Katara?" Aang asked as he jumped to his feet.

"I just had a horrible thought Aang."

"What is it?"

"If Azula was here, that must mean that Mai and Ty Lee are here in this valley somewhere. And if they find Sokka and Toph before we do…" She trailed off. They locked eyes as the same thought crossed their minds at the same time.

'_Trouble!_' And with that they took off into the thicket of trees as fast as they could…

* * *

"Five more minutes Katara." Sokka mumbled when he felt something poking his face. The poking continued until Sokka opened his eyes and discovered that a spider monkey was staring him in the face, looking very hungry.

"AAAHHHHH!!!!" Sokka screamed, instantly grabbing his club and batting the grotesque thing away before it could bite him with its poisonous fangs. He breathed a sigh of relief when it became apparent that the creature wasn't going to return, but couldn't help feeling uneasy when he heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like snoring. Sokka looked down, nearly screaming again when he realized that the sound was indeed snoring, and that it was coming from Toph, who was still leaning against him fast asleep, her hair gently framing a small smile on her face. Even more surprising was the fact that he still had an arm wrapped around her sleeping form.

'_I hope she's having a really nice dream, cause if she wakes up in a bad mood and finds us like this, it's going to become my nightmare._' Sokka thought morbidly, as he tried to free his arm without waking her. His efforts were in vain however, as Toph yawned and rubbed her eyes before opening them.

'_Please tell me that I'm still dreaming and that I wasn't using Sokka for a pillow._' Toph thought, as her cheeks tinged pink from embarrassment. It appeared to be no such luck when Sokka greeted her with a simple…

"Morning, Toph. Did you sleep well?"

Toph's face went from a light pink to a deep red as she quickly pushed off of Sokka and looked away.

"Don't kill me! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Sokka begged as he shut his eyes and cowered in fear. Realizing that his mortal form was still intact, Sokka opened his eyes, expecting to see a large rock hovering above his head. Instead, he just saw Toph making no move to end his life, as she was still turned away from him, sitting on her knees the best she could manage with her head down. Deciding to press his luck, Sokka got up and moved closer to her.

"You okay Toph?"

You won't tell anyone, will you?" She asked quietly.

"No, of course I won't." Sokka assured as he waved his arms in front him, "I don't even know how we got like that and I am really, really sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for? I didn't have to tell you anything last night." Toph pointed out, causing Sokka to realize that she was talking about the conversation they had last night, and regain his composure when his life seemed to be out of danger.

"Well, I'm sorry that you had to go through that." He explained.

"There's nothing you could have done. I managed all by myself." Toph declared.

"You're right. The past is the past and there's nothing you, nor I, nor anyone else can do to change any of that." Sokka replied as he put his hands behind his head. Toph nodded in agreement.

"But," Sokka continued, "That says nothing about the present, and you have 3 friends, 5 counting Appa and Momo, who are here for you now. We're glad to have you with us Toph, cause we can depend on you just like we hope you can depend on us." Toph looked up and smiled the warmest smile that he had seen from her yet.

"Thank you, Sokka."

"I'm just telling it like it is. There's no reason to thank me for that." Sokka replied casually as he extended his hand to help her off the ground.

"It still means a lot to hear you say that." She informed him as she took his hand and allowed him to pull her up. Sokka smiled and passed her the crutch.

"C'mon, we still have a lot of ground to cover." Sokka pointed out.

"I'm right behind you." Toph assured as they continued on their way…

* * *

Aang and Katara race through the forest as fast as they can, being careful not to take a wrong turn, or trip and fall in their haste.

"Katara! Slow down!" Aang called after her before ducking to avoid hitting a low tree branch.

"We can't, Aang! Sokka and Toph could be in trouble. They can't be too far ahead if they're moving as fast as they can, so we should meet up with them soon as long as we keep heading in this direction." She yelled behind her without turning around.

"Which is exactly what we wanted to know, so thank you."

Katara looked ahead and immediately dove to the side to avoid the daggers that Mai had thrown at her.

"Katara!" Aang yelled before almost getting knocked from behind by Ty Lee.

"Oh pooh. I missed."

"Well Aang, I guess it's safe to assume that they haven't come across Toph and Sokka." Katara remarked before using her water-whip to fend of more dagger assaults.

"Good for them; not so good for us." Aang pointed out as he swung his staff at Ty Lee, missing as she did a back flip to dodge his attack. Ty Lee charged with a flurry of punches forcing Aang to jump back and stomp the ground, causing a pillar to erupt from the ground and pass in front of Ty Lee's face. She immediately stopped to keep from running face-first into it. She punched the pillar causing it to shatter, only to be knocked away by the mass of rocks Aang launched at her and crash into Mai. Katara took a deep breath to refill her lungs.

"Thanks Aang."

"Sure thing."

"Honestly. You two had the element of surprise, and you **still** couldn't defeat the Avatar and his water peasant companion. Pathetic. I guess I'll have to take over from here." A voice called out. Aang and Katara turned to the direction that the voice had come from only to come face to face with…

"Azula!" Aang yelled in surprise.

"I thought that you'd have given up after yesterday." Katara remarked.

"If you thought that your feeble attempt at finishing me off was anything more than a lucky strike on your part, then I'm afraid you're greatly overestimating your abilities." Azula retorted.

"Says you. Aang and I sent you packing once and we can do it again." Katara shot back.

"I wasn't saying anything about the Avatar's skills peasant. I was talking about your measly attacks." Azula clarified causing Katara to grit her teeth and clench her fists in anger.

"Um… Katara?" Aang nervously called out.

"Back off Aang. This is my fight."

"Sure." Aang replied without hesitation, knowing very well that Katara's anger envoked power resembling the iceberg she freed him from; Visible above the surface, and massive if you looked deep enough.

"Isn't that cute?" Azula mocked. "The water peasant thinks she can present a challenge without the Avatar."

"I'll show you what I can do." Katara responded confidently.

Azula shot a fireball at her, but Katara dodged and sent out a water-whip. Azula jumped over it and kicked out another blast of fire forcing Katara to dive out of the way and put up a water barrier just as Azula punched out another fire blast. Katara's shield absorbed the first blast before evaporating, but she took the full impact of Azula's follow-up attack and she flew backwards into the trees.

"KATARA!" Aang screamed as he rushed to her side, gasping when he saw the condition of her. Her body was intact, but she had burns across most of her body and had lost consciousness. "Katara…" Aang whispered, as his eyes welled up with tears.

"She sure showed me. I don't think I could have taken one of my direct attacks without burning to ashes." Azula cackled. Aang gritted his teeth and felt himself loosing sense of his surroundings. Azula took a few steps back as the air around them encircled Aang and his arrow tattoos started glowing.

"What's going on?" Azula asked out loud while she used her arms to shield her face from the windstorms' fury. Without warning, a rock flew at her forcing her to jump back as it hit the ground with enough force to leave a small crater.

'_This must be the Avatar state. I'll have to be careful or I'll end up worse off than his valet over there._' Azula thought before firing a lightning bolt at Aang. Aang quickly brought up an earth dome to deflect her attack. Azula followed through and fired two simultaneous lightning bolts, which successfully destroyed the barrier, revealing that the Avatar was no longer there. Azula ran over to the rubble and discovered a hole in the ground and without warning, Aang exploded out of the ground and delivered an uppercut to Azula's jaw with a stone-covered fist. Azula was sent flying back into a tree where she slid down to the roots dazed. Aang unconsciously shapes the stone fist into a stone spear and pulls back his arm, intending to strike a finishing blow, when he feels a hand upon his shoulder. He slowly turns around and sees Katara looking back at him with a pleading look on her face. Aang slowly powers down and they fall to their knees in each other's arms.

"That's enough, Aang. You beat her." Katara consoled as she stroked his back.

"Aww. That's really sweet." Ty Lee voiced as she rushed towards Katara. Aang pushed Katara out of the way and was about to blow Ty Lee back with a strong gust of wind when he saw Mai launch a series of daggers and needles at him. Katara used her water whip to deflect most of them before her injuries caused her to miss the rest as she doubled over. Aang jumped over the remaining projectiles and blew away the second wave before they reached Katara, but the second he came down he was attacked by Ty Lee's swift punches and rendered immobile on the ground.

"Aang!" Katara cried out.

"Run Katara! You have to get out of here!" Aang yelled from his position on the floor.

"No Aang, I'm not leaving you." She declared as she slowly rose to her feet. '_I'll just have to take on all three of them._' She thought as she looked at her surroundings, but soon let out a cry of alarm when she realized that Azula was no longer there…

* * *

'_I'll leave the peasant and the body of the Avatar to those clowns. Once I find their allies, we'll take them all with us back to the Fire Nation where my father can do as he sees fit._' Azula thought as she raced through the forest. It wasn't long before Azula came to a river with a current too fast to wade through safely. She looked down both ends and saw that the currents led to a nearby waterfall. She kicked a fireball at a nearby tree and watched as it fell across the span of the river before quickly crossing it to the other side, and knocking it into the water so no one could escape if they happened to make it past her. She ran a few more paces before coming across a suspicious pile of leaves, which was clearly tied to the trunk of a skinny tree being held down by another rope.

"DID YOU ACTUALLY THINK I WOULD FALL FOR SUCH AN OBVIOUS TRAP?" Azula screamed as she shot a fire blast at the rope holding the tree down. The pile of leaves scattered as the noose shot out from underneath them, but Azula was caught off guard when the noose wrapped around the protruding branch of a solid log and swung it around the tree before crashing into her chest, sending her backwards. She landed in the river and desperately tried to fight the current before it inevitably carried her over the waterfall. Sokka stepped out from his hiding place and looked down to where Azula had fallen to.

"Well yeah, but I put a trap on the trap just in case." Sokka answered with a smile.

"Course you wouldn't have had the time to set up the traps if I hadn't felt her coming." Toph pointed out as she stepped away from the tree she was hiding behind.

"It's called teamwork Toph. We wouldn't have succeeded without each other."

"I know, I know. Hooray teamwork. Now let's get going."

'_At least she's making an effort to accept my help. I think_' Sokka thought. "How are we supposed to cross this?" he wondered out loud.

Toph sighed. "Stand next to me and hold on tight." She instructed. Sokka obeyed and stood by her side, waiting for her to explain as he wrapped his arms around her. Toph said nothing as she grabbed hold of Sokka with both arms before lifting her good leg and slamming it down to form a makeshift bridge over and across the river.

"Where would I be without you Toph?" Sokka asked rhetorically.

"Did you want me to start from the first time we met, or just today?" Toph asked with a smile as she followed him across.

"Very funny." Sokka remarked, as he jumped off the makeshift bridge. Toph's cries and the sound of crumbling rock caused Sokka to turn around, catching Toph at the last second as she lost her footing and started falling.

"Geez, be more careful. The last thing we need is for you to break the other leg." Sokka teased.

"Thanks, Sokka." Toph quietly responded.

"That's what friends are for Toph. We may put each other down, but we're always there to pick each other up." Sokka preached.

"Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"You can let go now." Toph pointed out.

"Oh, Sorry." Sokka apologized with a sheepish grin as he let her down. "This stays between us right?" he asked hopefully.

"Ooooh, yeah." Toph assured as they walked on…

* * *

A/N: Chapter three is… dang; I don't have a rhyme for this one. Oh well. Hope you've been enjoying the fight scenes. I'm starting to run out of ideas.


	5. Put out the Forest Fire and Regroup

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters**

**A/N: **_"_**means character speech**_"_

_'**means character thoughts**'_

**Toph's Pride Ch.4 Put out the Forest Fire and Regroup**

Katara quickly dove behind a tree to avoid Ty Lee's strikes. Just as she was about to duck out the other side, Mai's daggers flew past her face, forcing Katara to run further into the trees with Ty Lee hot on her heels. Katara finally tripped on a tree root, hitting the ground hard enough to force the air out of her lungs. Ty Lee leaped into the air, intending to stomp down with great force, but was taken by surprise when Katara's water-whip grabbed hold of her leg and flung her into a nearby tree. Katara breathed a sigh of relief as Ty Lee's clothes became entangled in the numerous branches; taking the opportunity to coat her hands with the water remaining in her waterskin so she could mend the damage Azula had inflicted upon her. With her wounds healed, Katara ran back to where Aang was being held, but was surprised to find Mai on her back with a bored expression on her face. Mai glanced over in Katara's direction and sighed.

"Take him." She said without a fuss, as she got up and started walking away.

Katara blinked in confusion before using her waterbending to cut the ropes binding Aang.

"Shouldn't we go after her?" Aang asked her as he struggled to get into a sitting position.

"I honestly don't think that we would stand a chance right now. I'm exhausted and you can barely move." Katara said with a sigh. "I just hope that Sokka and Toph can fend them off until we get there."

"Don't worry Katara. Sokka's come a long way, and having complete control of the terrain gives Toph the advantage." Aang reminded.

"You're right, Aang. They should be okay until we get there." Katara said with a smile, but she still had her doubts…

* * *

"I don't get it Mai. Why'd you let him go? Aren't you afraid of what Azula will do to us?" Ty Lee asked as she freed herself from the tree and followed after her teammate.

"If Azula wanted him so badly, she should have captured him herself." Mai replied as they made their way past the clearing and farther into the forest.

"I guess she doesn't need to know what happened." Ty Lee agreed with a smile, before having her world turned upside down when a noose wrapped itself around her leg and pulled her up a tree. "Wow, I can feel the blood hurrying – no it's more of an 'ush' sound."

"Rushing." Mai supplied.

"Yeah, that's it. I can feel the blood **rushing** to my head."

Mai put her hand to her face and sighed before throwing a handful of daggers at a nearby bush, forcing a screaming Sokka out of his hiding place.

"Um, hi ladies. Nice day for a stroll isn't it?" Sokka said casually, before he looked up at Ty Lee. "Well I can see that you two are kinda busy, so I'll just be on my way." Sokka said. He started walking back the way he had come from, managing to pass two trees before Mai's projectiles hit the third tree in front of him.

Sokka sighed. "Almost made it." He mumbled, taking out both his boomerang and club in hand as he prepared for attack. Sokka threw his boomerang and quickly charged after it. Mai dodged his attack and sent a handful of needles in his direction, but they were blocked by his boomerang's return trip. Sokka caught the boomerang with his free hand and used the momentum to spin around and swing his club at Mai. Mai jumped further back and threw more daggers, but Sokka deflected them with his boomerang and charged forward. Just as he was about to strike, his foot stepped into an extra noose he had laid down and he soon found himself next to Ty Lee who surprisingly, was enjoying the distorted scenery.

"Hi there!" she greeted her new company with a smile and a wave.

"Aw, man." Sokka groaned as he reached in vain for the boomerang he had dropped when he was pulled up.

'_Please tell me that the reason I can't detect Sokka's movements anymore is because he's not moving as he stands over the bodies of the enemy._' Toph thought hopefully.

"Get me down from here!!" Sokka yelled, causing Toph to slap her palm to her face in frustration. Mai walked over to where they were suspended and threw a dagger at the rope holding Ty Lee up, allowing her to gracefully flip over and land on her feet.

"If **he's** here," Ty Lee said with a coy smile, "Then that must mean the earthbender is here as well."

"Uhh…no she isn't." Sokka lamely protested.

"It's okay Sokka." Toph said, from behind the tree that Mai's needles were protruding from, before partially revealing herself. "If they want me, they can come and get me if they dare." She boldly declared.

"If you're gonna threaten us, it would help if you got closer." Ty Lee pointed out.

"I can take you out just as easily from over here." Toph coolly replied.

"We'll just have to see about that." Ty Lee challenged as she ran at Toph. Mai took the time to walk over and pick up Sokka's boomerang.

"How's this thing work anyway?" she wondered out loud as she swung it left and right. Ty Lee dodged all of the attacks that Toph sent her way with little difficulty.

"Well, aren't you going to attack me?" she mocked as she dodged another boulder that Toph sent her way. She got right in front of Toph's face before jumping over her expected attack. She smiled in content when she saw the splint around Toph's leg, figuring the injury must be behind her poor aim.

"What's the matter cavegirl?" Ty Lee mocked "Trip over a rock you couldn't bend out of the way?"

Toph retaliated by striking with a pillar of earth beneath Ty Lee's feet while she grabbed for her crutch that lay beside her, but Ty Lee used the attack for leverage and came down with a kick that split the crutch in half just as Toph put it under her arm. Ty Lee used a series of fast and accurate punches to immobilize both of Toph's arms and her good leg before she hit the ground, landing on her side. Feeling that Toph was completely helpless, Ty Lee calmly walked past her, fully intending to observe Sokka, but her decision to let her guard down around Toph proved to be a fatal mistake. Toph screamed out in pain when she slammed her injured leg against the ground to form a blunt stalagmite in front of Ty Lee, which caught her in the chest and forced her into a tree rendering her unconscious. Mai turned her attention to the blind earthbender and mistakenly threw Sokka's boomerang at the girl, only to have it curve up before it hit her and slice into the treetops on its return trip.

"Toph! Look out!" Sokka warned, before his boomerang cut through the rope holding him above the ground and he came crashing down, blacking out.

"What?" Toph inquired before a tree branch dropped on her head and knocked her out cold. Mai looked at the three unconscious bodies around her and sighed.

"There is no way I'm picking them all up." She said plainly, as she went to pick Ty Lee off the ground and threw the unconscious girl over her shoulder before sauntering off to Azula's predetermined rendezvous point. Thirty minutes or so passed before Sokka regained consciousness and he immediately looked up to discern Toph's whereabouts. He spotted her on the ground and gasped when he saw that she wasn't moving.

"Toph!" he called out to her as he ran to her side, lifting her head off the ground. "C'mon Toph, wake up." Sokka pleaded as he gently shook her. "If you wake up now, I promise to be more sensitive and think before I speak."

By coincidence, subconsciously feeling the distress in his voice, or simply hearing his enticing promise, Toph's eyelids fluttered before opening fully.

"Sokka?" she asked groggily.

"Toph!" Sokka happily exclaimed before realizing that she could have a concussion. "Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?" He asked, completely oblivious as usual.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe if you held them closer I could see them." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sorry." Sokka apologized, lowering his head in shame as he realized that he broke his promise less than a minute after he made it.

"It's okay meathead. It's kinda nice when you forget actually; makes me feel a little more normal." Toph replied.

"Trust me Toph. The only thing abnormal about you is your unnatural tendencies to find fault in me, because we both know that you don't make fun of me intentionally."

"Hate to break it to you snoozles, but making fun of your shortcomings is as natural to me as breathing. Now that everything's been cleared up, how 'bout you pass me my crutch so we can mosey on out of here." Sokka looked at the condition of the crutch and sighed.

"Um………….."

"What's the hold up?" Toph demanded. "Can't you find it?"

"Well I found it over here…" he started as he lifted it in one hand.

"Then what's the problem?" asked Toph impatiently. Sokka looked at the other half resting in his other hand.

"I also found it over here." He finished as he tapped the two separate ends against the ground so Toph could pick up what he meant before standing up. "I'll have to continue on foot and hopefully I'll meet up with the others soon."

"Oh, so now that I can't follow, you're just going to leave me here?" Toph accused. "Weren't you the one insisting on carrying me in the first place?"

"And you were the one telling me that there was no way that you'd let me carry you…if you could make it on your own…ohhh, okay." Sokka knelt down and helped Toph stand in a stable position before turning around to allow her to awkwardly climb onto his back, and wrap her arms around his neck as he put his arms beneath her legs and lifted her off the ground. "Comfy?"

"As I'll ever be, so let's get going." Toph responded.

"Hey, Toph?" He inquired, as they pressed on down the trail.

"What?"

"How much do you eat?" He asked, earning him a rather hard punch to the back of the head as they walked through the trees…

* * *

Rested and recharged, Aang and Katara continued the search for their missing companions.

"You know, with all the trouble we've been having, it's hard to tell who's in need of rescuing." Aang pointed out. Katara remained silent as she followed close behind him. "Cheer up Katara. We've been walking so far that we're bound to run into them soon. Maybe we'll meet up with them in the clearing further ahead." Katara stopped walking.

"But what if they're hurt? Or got attacked by the Fire Nation or something?" She asked worriedly.

"Sokka and Toph will be fine." Aang assured.

"Aang! Katara!" a voice called out in the distance.

"See? I told you they'd be fine." Aang said smugly, but he was relieved to have found them at last. Aang and Katara raced into the clearing to find Sokka standing in the middle with Toph on his back. Sokka let Toph down just before Katara ran up and threw her arms around them both, hugging them close.

"Sokka! Toph! Thank goodness you're okay." Katara exclaimed as her worries subsided.

"More or less." Toph clarified, causing Katara to inspect them closer and gasp in concern upon noticing the splint on Toph's leg.

"What happened Toph?" Katara asked as she bent down to get a closer look at her friend's injury. "Did Azula and those other creeps do this to you?" Toph shook her head.

"No, I just need more practice falling off of cliffs." She explained with a grin. "Think you can take a look at it?" Katara nodded.

"Sure. Have a seat over here and you can tell me everything that's happened." Katara said, as she helped Toph to sit on a nearby rock while she bended water out of her waterskin to heal Toph's ankle.

"Thanks Katara. And…I'm sorry about starting the fight yesterday."

"I appreciate the thought, but you don't have to apologize Toph. I was as much at fault as you. Truce?"

"Truce." Toph agreed with a smile.

"Hey Aang, did you and my sister run into any trouble after Azula?" Sokka asked. Aang nodded.

"Actually, we ran into Azula twice and the other two weren't far behind." Aang explained before he took a deep breath and blew on the bison-shaped whistle to call Appa to their location.

"Really? How'd you guys get away?" Sokka asked. Katara instantly spoke the thought that had crossed both hers and Aang's minds.

"Teamwork."

"How about you?" Aang asked. "You must have run into them, so how'd you get away?" Sokka looked at Toph's smiling face.

"Teamwork." They responded in unison as Appa appeared from above the treetops and landed beside them with Momo perched on his head.

"Sorry, Toph." Katara apologized as she secured a bandage around Toph's ankle, "I could only reduce it to a mild sprain."

"Trust me, that's a lot better than it was. Thanks Katara."

"Your welcome, Toph. That's what friends are for."

"I know." Toph responded, shocking Katara and Aang as they loaded on top of Appa and started flying back the way they came. Sokka earnestly put his trusty machete in its holster while Toph retrieved her headband from Katara and procceded to fashion her hair back into a bun.

"Hey, Sokka, did anything interesting happen to you and Toph while you were out there?" Aang asked. Sokka glanced over in Toph's direction and saw her tense up, which brought a mischievous thought to his mind.

"Yes, Aang. A very interesting thing happened." He declared in a loud voice, drawing everyone's attention.

'_Here it comes._' Thought Toph, as she planned at least five scenarios for killing Sokka once he broke his promise to her. '_Not that he actually promised he wouldn't tell them what I said that night._' Toph reminded herself with a sigh.

"Really? What happened?" asked Katara, who had also become curious as to what had happened between them.

"Well, believe it or not, Toph…called me Sokka." He finished with mischievous grin.

"What?" Katara and Aang exclaimed in disbelief. "Is that true?" they demanded of her, to which she crossed her arms and turned her head away.

"Hey, you try thinking straight after breaking your leg." She defended, causing everyone to laugh. Amidst the laughter, Sokka felt Toph's sightless gaze upon him and turned to see her smiling face, knowing she was silently thanking him for upholding his promise. They arrived at their destination and looked back across the valley, thinking about all the events that had happened since yesterday.

"Ready to continue your training, Twinkletoes?" Toph asked, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

"You really should be resting your leg, Toph." Katara pointed out.

"Resting is for the weak." She countered as she limped into position.

"I thought you said it was 'worrying about others and depending on others' is what makes people weak." Sokka reminded.

"It's okay between friends." Toph clarified with a large smile.

**End**

* * *

A/N: This fic as I mentioned before was inspired by one of my best friends who's been like a little sister to me for as long as I have known her. I hope she gets the message in this story and realizes that it's okay to fall back on your friends because you're not a burden to them. In fact, they probably insist on helping so give them a chance because that's what friends are for.


	6. Special announcement

Just wanted to let everybody who liked this story know, that I intend to write a follow-up for "Toph's Pride". I plan to give Sokka a chance to grow, as well as put in some more light Kataang and Tokka.

It won't be for a few more months, but be on the lookout for "Sokka's Stubborn Streak" or something along the lines of that. I still have to work on my other stories, but this will definitely be the first

sequel I write for my stories. Thank you again to all that have read this story whether you have reviewed or not.


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